List of British Buddhists

This is a list of notable Buddhists or Buddhist practitioners who live or lived in the United Kingdom. This list includes both formal teachers of Buddhism, and people notable in other areas who are publicly Buddhist or who have espoused Buddhism in the United Kingdom.

Actors

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, British-Nigerian actor
Andrew Williams, British actor, model and television personality.
Alex Day, English musician, vlogger and writer.
Alex Ferns, Scottish actor known for EastEnders.
Barry Letts, English actor, television director, writer and producer.
Benedict Cumberbatch, British actor.
Chris Gascoyne, English actor
David Yip, British actor and playwright.
Donovan, British singer, songwriter and record producer.
Gordon Hopkirk, British silent film actor.
James Norton, English actor
John Garrie, British actor and Zen Buddhist teacher.
Orlando Bloom, English actor
William Woollard, British actor, historian and retired television producer and television presenter.
Zhang Tielin, British actor and film director.

Jeff Banks, Welsh artist, fashion designer of men's and women's clothing, jewellery, and home furnishings.

Andy Puddicombe is a British author, public speaker and a teacher of meditation and mindfulness. He, alongside Richard Pierson, is the co-founder of Headspace, a digital health company that provides guided meditation training and mindfulness for its users.
Clare Melford, British businesswoman and former CEO of Global Disinformation Index.

Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English politician; served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington and served in the House of Lords, having inherited the title of Baron Avebury in 1971.
Suella Braverman is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 under Liz Truss. A member of the Conservative Party, she was chair of the European Research Group from 2017 to 2018 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2020 to 2022. She has been the member of Parliament for Fareham in Hampshire since 2015. She took her oath of office on the Dhammapada.

Bernard Benson, British inventor and author.
Edmund James Mills, British chemist. He was inventor of the brand-name disinfectant Parozone.

Amazonica, is a British rock singer and DJ.
Annabella Lwin is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow.
Boy George, English singer, songwriter, DJ, fashion designer, mixed media artist, photographer and record producer.
David Bowie, English singer-songwriter and actor.
Gary Glitter, English former glam rock singer, became a Buddhist and vegetarian during the 1980s.
Howard Jones, English musician, singer and songwriter.
Jamie Muir, British musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972 to 1973, appearing prominently on their fifth album Larks' Tongues in Aspic.
Limahl, English pop singer, lead singer of Kajagoogoo and solo artist.
Maxi Jazz, British rapper.
Nick Jago, English musician, former drummer of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Richard Batsford, English pianist, composer and singer-songwriter.
Sandie Shaw, retired English pop singer.

Arthur Lillie, was a Buddhist, soldier in the British Indian Army, and a writer. His books on religion were poorly received by scholars.
Neville Armstrong was a British soldier, literary agent, and publisher.

Edward Douglas Fawcett, British mountaineer, philosopher and novelist.
Marco Pallis, Greek-British author and mountaineer with close affiliations to the Traditionalist School. He wrote works on the religion and culture of Tibet.
Colin Wyatt, British ski-racer, ski-jumper, ski mountaineer, artist, lepidopterist, author, and photographer; world traveller.

Ajahn Amaro – British-American Theravāda monk; abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England.
Ajahn Brahm – British-born Theravāda monk, ordained in Thailand; abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia.
Ajahn Khemadhammo – British monk of the Thai Forest Tradition; founder of Forest Hermitage, UK.
Ajahn Sucitto – British-born Theravada Buddhist monk, former abbot of Chithurst Buddhist Monastery.
Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu – British Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature.
Ñāṇavīra Thera – English Theravāda Buddhist monk.
Sīlācāra – One of the earliest Western Theravāda monks, ordained in Burma.
Sangharakshita – British Buddhist teacher; founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community.

Ananda Metteyya – One of the first English monks ordained in Burma; early missionary.
Christmas Humphreys – Founder of The Buddhist Society in London; early British convert.
Ken Jones – Welsh teacher, poet, and socially engaged Buddhist activist.
Lance Selwyn Cousins – British scholar in the field of Buddhist Studies and founding member of Samatha Trust.
Maitreyabandhu – Poet and Buddhist teacher at the London Buddhist Centre.
Rupert Mark Lovell Gethin – Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol.
Thomas William Rhys Davids – Welsh scholar of the Pāli language and founder of the Pāli Text Society.